Each issue of Houston PetTalk Magazine, we are spotlighting a Houston Hero and we need your submissions! There are many people in our community that go out of their way to help animals in need. They spend their time, resources, money, etc. in such a selfless way that we want to recognize them. Here’s the scoop:
1. The person should NOT be employed in the animal industry or work with animals as their “paying” job…this recognition is for those that take their spare time to help.
2. Submit their name and a paragraph about they types of things they do to help animals in our city, i.e. volunteer at shelters to walk dogs, save strays, promote spay/neuter programs, foster animals, donate to charities (money or their own works of art, expertise, etc.) and so forth.
3. Provide their contact information
4. Those heroes that are chosen for the publication will need to provide a high resolution image of themselves, or if you happen to have, send it over!
Send information to info@houstonpettalk.com with the subject line hero
Thanks for your support in recognizing the Heroes in our community!
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Don’t miss this fabulous opportunity to capture your pet in a photo that will keep giving back to you forever! Danny Clark, whose work we love!, is offering a not-to-be-missed event at Hollywood Frame Gallery on April 10, from 10am to 5pm. Bring your pet and get a photo session for only $40.
As an added bonus, bring in a 20lb bag of pet food benefiting the Houston Humane Society and receive 20% off your portrait order and a 20% Off coupon toward custom framing.
Make your appointment while there are still a few available! 713.942.8885.
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Low-cost pet vaccinations are available this weekend at Special Pals in the Katy area. The program also includes, Heartworm and Feline Leukemia & FIV testing.Rabies shots are as low as $10!
Special Pals
3830 Greenhouse Road
Houston, Texas 77084 (map)
281-579-PETS (7387)
Saturday, March 13 from 1pm to 3pm
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Flower Power! We use flower essences to help a lot of animals. They can help many pets with emotional and behavioral issues. And if the health problem stems from emotional issues, the essences can help resolve it. For instance, if a dog has diarrhea because he’s stressed out for whatever reason, the flower essences can help ease or eliminate the stress and then the diarrhea stops. So yes they can be absolutely incredible.
When we muscle test to find out what will help an animal the most, it is often that flower essences show up as one of the top 3 or 4 modalities (out of the 10 we offer). That just shows you how effective essences can be. Remember, you can try and try something and spend your time and money and end up playing a waiting game with your animal’s health if you go from one thing to another. You will probably get sick of me saying “muscle testing” all of the time but that is why we have such great results.
So, what are flower essences? Well, they are made from flowers so that’s a start. They were created by Dr. Edward Bach, a brilliant man ahead of his time. He was a London medical doctor and he believed that flowers had amazing properties to heal his clients. Now he was a smart man and he knew that most illness and disease stems from emotional issues that are trapped in the body so to speak. He had wonderful results. Since then, other people have created many different kinds of essences out there such as Flower Essence Society, Spirit Essences, Pet Essences, Green Hope Essences, Perelandra Essences, Australian Bush Essences and more. But because Bach’s essences were the original ones, they are the most well known and widely used. They are all we use in our practice just because we have not felt the need that more brands means better. We’ve had such great results with his essences but know some people also use other brands and really like them.
How can essences help your pet? The million dollar question. Think EVERYTHING. It could be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. So think any kind of behavioral problem such as shyness, aggression, hyperactivity or anxiety. They could simply be sad about the loss of a loved one or acting up because of a change in the home like a new pet or your new work hours. They could also be going senile. Think training problems – slow, not responsive, inability to focus, high strung. They might be dragging you down the street or looking at you like you must be off your rocker. With physical issues, they have the possibility to be helped if the reason behind them is emotional stress, which can mean a lot of things from vomiting to more serious health issues. Remember animals get stressed like we do and they hold on to things and that CAN manifest into something serious. The emotional health of a pet is just important as our emotional well-being. And that is where the flower essences excel or should I say “blossom”!
How are the essences made? Dr. Bach used to go to the English countryside and gather the flowers in the morning, put them in a bowl, add water and let the sunlight hit them. Then after a few hours he’d remove the flowers and he’d have a stock essence for that particular flower. He created 38 individual flower essences. He would make custom blends for his clients that were up to 7 of his essences. His Rescue Remedy is created with 5 of the essences, so it is not one individual essence but five. It can have a great immediate calming effect so that is why it is used in a lot of emergency type situations for people and animals and even used by shelters and rescue groups.
What is the difference between an individual essence and a combination essence? All of Dr. Bach’s are individual essences except his one combination essence, Rescue Remedy. Some companies make individual essences and others focus on combination blends. For instance a company’s calming blend may contain many essences and that is in the hopes that some of those essences are going to be the right ones that will help a person or an animal. Or they may contain just a few and you have to hope that those few are the ones that will work. Know that offering a single essence is more powerful than offering many essences but to help most animals, you are looking at 3-5 individual essences, which is what we use most of the time. Know that when we make a custom blend and muscle test to do this, the combination blend of Rescue Remedy never tests as being part of the blend. This is because it contains 5 essences just by itself and is not really targeting what is going on with the animal as a whole.
How can you create a special blend of essences for your pet? Well, you can look at the information provided on the Bach Centre’s website and see what characteristics seem to fit your pet and come up with a blend of up to 7 essences. Or you can muscle test and find out exactly what will help your pet. You see, even though you think you know your pet very well, you can normally only go by what you see on the surface. There could be something going on that you do not know about, especially if you adopted or rescued your pet. That is why muscle testing is SO helpful because it shows what the body needs – it takes the guessing out of it. It looks at the whole animal even if you can’t see it all. You are more likely to have better results with a custom blend you created through muscle testing than one you did by selecting essences that “sound” like they would fit your pet’s personality and behavior. To make your blend, you’ll get an empty 30ml dropper bottle, shake the essence bottles, put 2 drops of each essence you select into the empty bottle, then add spring water. Be careful not to fill too full or when you put the dropper in it will overflow. You’ll want to refrigerate it so it will stay fresh. You can try creating a blend for your pet or have us create one for you.
How are they offered? Flower essences are so easy to give to any animal. You will generally give 2 drops at a time up to 4 times a day. It is not the number of drops that matter, but how often it is given. Of course, muscle testing is best way to see how often it should be given. You can put directly in their mouth (not letting dropper touch it so you don’t contaminate it) or on a piece of food. If that is too difficult, you can put in their water, rub onto their ears or even put in spray bottle. Of course the first two methods are preferred since more direct. And don’t worry about another pet getting them like if you place in the water or they snatch the food item. The essences only work where needed otherwise they don’t have an effect. And keep in mind sometimes YOU could benefit from the same blend your animal is getting. Yes that is right. It is often for pets and their owners to have some of the same emotional issues going on. Again, it will either help you or nothing will happen. The essences will last 4-6 weeks generally. Improvement could be seen in hours or it may take weeks. It all depends on the animal and the situation. You can muscle test to know how long to offer the essences. And just know that if other things happen to your pet to stress them out, it can make the current blend less effective. You might need to relook at the essences and offer some others. If you muscle test you will know if an essence or two needs to be added or an entirely new blend needs to be created…but you knew I was probably going to say that, right?
So give these flowers a try! And if you are inspired, you might want to take a flower essence workshop with us where you learn more about using flower essences with pets and people and also be able to create your own custom blends to take with you.
Blessings to you and the animals you love!
Kim
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There are many things to consider when choosing to bring a puppy into a home with children. One thing to think about is what type of dog will be gentle and tolerate the child’s behavior. Your new puppy is not just a pet, he or she is a member of the family and as such, needs to be treated well by everyone – especially the children.
Whatever type of puppy or dog you choose, some type of training will be in order:
Make sure your children are mature enough to have self control and understand directions. Very very
young children just naturally pull hair, poke eyes, fall on the dog or puppy. All of these behavior
are extremely hard on a dog.
One way to tell how your child will act around a dog or puppy is to take the child around a friend’s dog and see what your child does. Is your child hard on the dog? Does your child listen to you when you tell him “no” around the dog?
Small puppies, generally, are NOT the best choice if you have young children. In their own right, puppies are very much like small children themselves, and they will take a lot of time and attention.
If you have small children also, your time is limited and your probably won’t have time to devote to the puppy to help it navigate it’s way to being a well trained dog.
Make sure your puppy or dog has the ability to get away from the kids in a safe place, like a crate or kennel in a quiet area of the house. You need to get away from your kids occasionally—so does your dog.
Understand that just by nature of being kids, the high energy, the screaming, the legs and arms going 90 mph, will always bring out the prey drive in your puppy or dog. Know what to do to address this.
Kids and dogs is a 2 way street. Don’t automatically assume your puppy or dog will “know” how to act around children. They must be taught, JUST as your children must be taught the appropriate way to act with a puppy or dog.
Consistency and repetition are the key. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Be as comfortable with the trainer of your dog as you are the teacher of your children.
And remember, “Opportunity Barks!”
Yappy Hour at Animal TailsFriday, March 26 ,2010
“To all our Katy FB friends, don’t forget to mark your calendars for March 26th to join us and Animal Tails for Yappy Hour. There will be a raffle and we will be selling our great belly bands for the boys, diapers for the girls, crate pads, and other fun things. 100% of the raffle goes to Recycled Poms-Houston and 50% of the purchase of our items we are selling will go to Recycled Poms-Houston. Hope to meet lots of you there that help to support us.”
Paws In the Park
Saturday, March 27, 2010
10:00am -4:00pm
Independence Parkin Pearland
Come Join us for the weekend – no pet required! We will kick things off on Saturday morning with the HEB Plus! Pet and Owner Fun Run followed by the national “Dock Diving” competition. In addition to the Dock Diving competition, Paws in the Parks will host teams from across the nation competing in the US Dog Disc Nationals and Lure Coursing. There are several demonstrations planned throughout the weekend including Flyball, Agility, Hunting Poodles, Obedience, and Grooming. Vendors are also on hand selling pet novelty items, giveaways and discounts.
Easter Egg Huntz For Mutz
Sunday March, 27
1:00pm -4:00pm
Easter Parade- Dogs show off there Easter bonnets Win Prizes for the most outstanding Easter outfits. Easter Bunny Pictures With Dogs (DONATIONS ACCEPTED) $25per dog includes doggie games, FREE Easter basket, T-shirt (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST) & 1 Hot dog (Food/Soft drinks a available for purchase). All proceeds will benefit SECOND CHANCE PETS, a nonprofit 501 (C) (3) animal welfare organization. FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL Jan at 281.286.3535.
You’ve been facebooking, myspacing, tweeting, youtubing, chatting and friending and NOW you can do the same with pet lovers in Houston or anywhere in the world! Houston PetTalk and our new affiliate company, myfuzzbook.com have launched a premier social networking site where pet enthusiasts can connect, unite, play and revel with likeminded animal lovers.
Looking for other Houstonians that love Bulldogs? Seeking the latest costume contest to show off your Chihuahua turned Martian? Want to share the endearing video of your fish that you’ve trained to jump through a hoop? Could you feline be the next beautiful face to grace pet food commercials? myfuzzbook.com is the platform to share anything about our furry, feathered, finned or scaled friends.
Launched in December 2009, myfuzzbook.com was created as a place where people with a passion for pets could make connections and share their experiences with other fellow pet owners. It’s “six degrees of separation” gone wild…you could meet anyone on the planet through the connection of others.
myfuzzbook.com is free and extremely user friendly. You can stay in touch with friends, make new contacts, post funny photos, share your pet’s personality, set moods and even post information to a pet wall. It virtually gives pets (and their human companions) their own cyber place.
By signing up with myfuzzbook.com, you can join communities for dogs, cats, fish, birds, lizards, etc. or create your own kingdom. It even offers the option to visit other communities and learn about different types of pets. It’s the perfect place to stay up-to-date with area events, unleash funny stories and even step out of your shell to become a fan of your favorite pet show or charity.
Go to www.myfuzzbook.com, become a member and start connecting with your inner pet today!
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Article Written By: Dr. Haug, a board certified veterinary behaviorist (through the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists). Previously the head of the Animal Behavior Service at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, she now has a private referral practice, South Texas Veterinary Behavior Services, in Sugar Land, Texas. www.texasvetbehavior.com.
When you live and or work closely with another individual – be it human or animal, it helps to understand what that individual is trying to communicate to you. Most of our interpretations of our pets’ behavior has been extrapolated from how we think as humans. This has led to a lot of erroneous assumptions and has done a disservice to our relationships with our pets. When you consider how difficult it can be sometimes to figure out what your friend, spouse, or child is saying, even though you speak the same language, just imagine the communication gap between you and your cat!
Living in harmony with another species means making an effort to learn what that animal is actually trying to say. While we will never know exactly what an animal is thinking, new research into animal behavior has shed light on some of their communication efforts. The trick to learning what your cat is saying relies on staying objective (and not letting emotion cloud your judgment) and learning careful observation skills so you can pick up those subtle signs your cat is sending to you. Cats have much more subtle communication than dogs and their repertoire of social signals is much smaller. This is due to their mostly solitary nature in the wild. (Cats are more social in domestic situations and around food dumps.)
Similar to words in a sentence, the meaning of any particular body signal can vary depending on the situation (context) and how they are grouped together. Body signals can be classified in various ways but for simplicity of this article we will talk about “distance increasing” and “distance decreasing” signals. (Other classifications include offensive/defensive, agonistic – dominance and submission, appeasement, cut-off, “stress”, and displacement signals.) Distance increasing signals are signals the cat sends when it wants to end or avoid an interaction or put more distance between itself and another individual (cat, human or any other animal). Distance decreasing signals are the opposite and indicate the cat’s desire for you to come closer or keep interacting the way you currently are.
Let’s start with some signs that are unequivocally distance increasing:
Hissing – hissing is always a defensive behavior in cats and therefore is distance increasing.
Ears flattened sideways: this behavior is associated with aggression, usually offensive or mixed offensive/defensive aggression. (See photo)
Tail wagging: true tail wagging in cats is a sign of irritation or aggression. The more dramatic the tail wag, the more irritated the cat is.
“Hard eye”: this is an expression of the cat’s eyes that almost mimics a scowl in a person – a “glare”. The animal looks directly at the “offender” and the pupils are typically relatively small. This is associated with offensive aggression.
Rolling onto back: cats do not roll over onto their backs due to submission as dogs do. In cats, this behavior is a purely defensive attack position – it allows the cat to use all of its claws and teeth to fend off an attacker. This behavior is somewhat instinctual in cats which is why so many cats grab and bite at your hands when you try to pet their bellies
Piloerection (hair standing up): When cats puff up their tails or the hair along their back, they are frightened and potentially aggressive.
Now for a few distance decreasing signals:
Tail up: Whereas friendly dogs generally lower their tails a little when greeting people, cats do the opposite. The tail up position in a cat is an affiliative signal indicating that the cat desires interaction.
Paw Kneading: cats knead with their front paws when they are content or “happy”. This behavior is a remnant from their time nursing where kneading stimulated the mother cat’s milk.
“Smiling”: while cats don’t smile quite the same way dogs do, many cats do get a smiley expression on their face when they are happy.
Ears pricked forward: this is seen when the cat is alert, playful and/or watching birds or other prey animals
And finally, signals with mixed meaning:
Squinty eyes: cats with squint when they are resting comfortably (cat napping) and also when they are stressed or aggressive.
Purring: while we generally think of cats purring when they are happy, cats will also purr when they are seriously injured or ill. This may be a self-comforting behavior in those situations.
Eyes wide open: wide, round eyes may be seen in a cat that is fearful, especially when the cat is far away from you, or when the cat is simply alert or playful.
Tail down: a lowered tail may indicate fear, aggression, or just a neutral state of mind.
This article was resubmitted from Houston PetTalk’s 2008 May issue.
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One of the Houston Zoo’s most special goats will likely be able to spend many more happy years delighting children and parents at the Houston Zoo, thanks to Dr. Brian Beale of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists. Forest was born special – he had several birth defects, including a permanent head tilt and a pretty unusual walk. As he got older, it became clear that his unusual walk was becoming more and more painful for him and the Houston Zoo staff knew he would need a special touch.
That’s where Dr. Beale stepped in, and after evaluating Forest, performed surgery to correct a medial patellar luxation (MPL), as well as straighten Forest’s crooked right femur and tibia, which had not formed correclty as Forest grew. The surgery was a success, and Forest is currently recovering and spending time with his best goat friend at the Houston Zoo. It will be some time before Forest is able to rejoin the rest of his friends at the petting zoo, but things are looking up for this special goat!
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The Sea Dog Inn, a pet boarding and grooming facility located on 5 wooded acres in the center of League City, TX, is extending efforts to help military pet owners. Sea Dog Inn recognizes the sacrifices made by military families when they receive deployment orders. It disrupts not only their family plans and lives, but creates a burden on what to do with pets while they are away. Often a beloved pet must be given up when no accommodation can be found to care for it. In order to ensure a pet can rejoin the family upon return to the USA, Sea Dog Inn is enhancing the policy of providing FREE PET BOARDING for military personnel while deployed.
It is enough that our military heroes put their personal goals and ambitions on hold for a period of time in order to serve our country. They should not have to sacrifice a pet they love to do so!
Visit the website at www.seadoginn.com for complete details on this and other money saving programs, as well as pricing for routine boarding and grooming services, or contact the office located at 310 Ellen Ave, League City, TX 77573 by calling (281) 554-2068.
Contact:
Gwen Pinder, Manager
Sea Dog Inn, Inc
310 Ellen Ave
League City, TX 77573
(281) 554-2068
email: seadoginn@hotmail.com